50 Fascinating Facts About WWE in The 1980s
41. Shane McMahon Debuted In The 80s!
Generally, when people stop to think about the 1980s, they don't place Shane McMahon in that era. He's very much a product of the 'Attitude' days of the 90s. That's when Shane-O came into his own as a stunt heavy 'Boy Wonder' who gave Jeff Hardy a run for his money by leaping off high places like a WWF/WWE daredevil and was harder than everyone. However, it's true - Shane debuted in the 80s.
His very first gig was as an official at the inaugural Royal Rumble in 1988. He then showed up again at Survivor Series 1989. McMahon can point to that latter pay-per-view and say he worked on PPV in the 80s by a hair, but he can still say it. For reference, Shane was called “Shane Stevens” whenever he was mentioned so nobody would think about Vince McMahon. That's the same sort of trick the WWF pulled for referee Joey Marella. Calling him Joey Monsoon would've drawn comparisons to Gorilla, and they didn't want to do that.
Similarly, Vince didn't want to heap pressure on his young son's shoulders just as he was breaking in or helping out at shows. Shane Stevens could be seen as a ringside ref who helped shepherd eliminated wrestlers backstage once they'd been pinned, submitted or disqualified. He was cutting his teeth and figuring things out, but he was there.
McMahon can boast about being a star of the 80s PPV boom by around one month and change (the 88 Rumble was on regular television). He'd transition to becoming a referee inside the ring after that, but then vanished from screens until his 1998 reprise as a loudmouth, silver-spoon character who rubbed his father's wealth in everyone's faces.